BONDI PAVILION ANNOUNCES 2026 SEASON-COLLABORATE, CONNECT, CREATE
Media Release/Programme 3rd December, 2025:
Waverley Council is thrilled to unveil Bondi Pavilion’s 2026 Artistic Program, an inspiring celebration of creativity and culture, featuring an extraordinary line-up of world-class art, music, theatre and entertainment for all ages – it’s their biggest yet!
In 2026, the Pav presents something for every season, from summer through winter, with more than 30 events on offer, including cutting-edge exhibitions, boundary-pushing theatre, award-winning comedy, free performances, youth programs and the return of the popular and acclaimed, Bondi Festival.
Bondi Pavilion’s Artistic Director, Chris Bendall, said:
“I’m delighted to be launching our 2026 Artistic Program at Bondi Pavilion. With events for and by everyone from the very, very young to the young at heart, audiences can expect to savour a season of cabaret, comedy, theatre, dance, music, author talks and visual arts.Over the past year, we’ve celebrated the natural environment across our program. In 2026, we’re adjusting our lens to interrogate, and celebrate, human nature in all our rich diversity. We’ve assembled an outstanding array of artists, who are all set to delight, challenge and inspire audiences at our iconic home where culture meets the sea.”
Will Nemesh, Mayor of Waverley, added:
“It is my great pleasure to unveil an extraordinary program of arts and culture offerings at our iconic Bondi Pavilion. At Waverley Council we are fully committed to uplifting the arts and fostering local creativity as much as possible, and we warmly invite you all to enjoy the smorgasbord of talent we’ve collated for 2026. Just a stone’s throw from the extraordinary, picturesque Bondi Beach, there truly is something for everybody.”
The Program begins in January with an astonishing array of sizzling summer events. To kick off the year, Sydney’s own world-renowned physical theatre company Legs On The Wall presents Waverider, a spectacular, new outdoor performance that mixes surf culture, acrobatics and ocean magic into a breathtaking summer celebration, programmed in partnership with Sydney Festival.
Erth Visual and Physical Theatre’s Deep Sea Divers follows in late January, delighting onlookers as they encounter performances by extraordinary puppets happening around the Pav and the promenade. Kids can join in the action themselves with creative workshops programmed alongside.
In February, two of Australia’s most exciting contemporary artists, proud Noongar artist Bumpy and First Nations drag performer Miss Ellaneous (Ben Graetz), take over the Pav, with music, cabaret and immersive storytelling. Prepare for an evening of soul-filled celebration as Bumpy presents a hypnotic fusion of jazz, funk, folk and R&B with The Kanana Tour. Next, Miss Ellaneous takes centre stage in a dazzling celebration of Darwin, drag performers and the forever Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,
Tina Turner in TINA: A Tropical Love Story.
To round out the summer season, Australian visual artist Lauren Brincat presents her boundary- pushing new exhibition Curtain Call, while Good Together brings together Waverley’s best artists in a collaborative exhibition exploring human nature, the natural environment and our ongoing quest for creativity.
As the weather calms and the sand cools, One Fell Swoop Circus comes to Bondi in autumn with a thrilling blend of acrobatics and sculptures for In Common, followed by an incredible celebration of women in music for International Women’s Day 2026 in March. Curated by Lily Richardson and featuring a smorgasbord of bands, DJs and gender-diverse artists, Amplify: Featuring The Buoysinvites audiences to connect, dance and celebrate.
From May to April, the Pav lights up with comedy and theatre: re:group performance collective presents AUTO-TUNE, a raucous 55-minute rock opera about millennial culture; award-winning musical comedian Gillian Cosgriff explores the chaos of existence in Life, Oh Life; Luke Kennedy of Tracks Magazine captures the playful and reckless spirit of surf culture in Bondi and Bronte in the photographic exhibition Broken Glass and Blue Bottles; Dummies Corp, winners of multiple Best
Children’s Presentation awards at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, present a side-splitting circus show for the whole family, Splash Test Dummies; and finally Emma Memma twirls her way to the Pav for a concert that celebrated creativity, inclusiveness and friendship.
Winter sees the return of Bondi’s annual music program Jazz at the Pav in June, featuring some of the best jazz groups and improvisers from Sydney and beyond, including Sydney pianist Freyja Garbett, saxophone legend Sandy Evans and immersive local trio Lisathe. Also in June, multiple ARIA Award-
winning songwriter Alex Lloyd performs his greatest hits and a brand-new suite of songs from his latest album, Echoes of Home. This is followed by the world premiere of two new works: dancer- choreographer Annalouise Paul’s contemporary flamenco performance Self Portrait and actor Jonny
Pasvolsky’s one-hour masterclass on the cult of self-improvement, The CAN Principle.
From July to August, prepare for the return of four local favourites: the annual Bondi Festival transforms the beachfront into a winter playground with award-winning performances, laugh-out- loud comedy, and a 25-metre-high Ferris Wheel; Waverley Councils 12-week youth program Bondi
WAVE teaches upper primary and high school students how to write and arrange original music; the Waverley Art Prize celebrates its 40th anniversary; and
ARTEXPRESS arrives at the Pav showcasing the outstanding High School Certificate Visual Arts students from across New South Wales.
Concluding the winter season, Sarah Austin, in collaboration with Performing Lines, presents a special sensory theatre experience for babies aged 0-18 months and their carers in An Uncertain Time, while A Dance Makers Collective unites Western Sydney’s finest movers for a celebration of dance in all its
forms, in All In.
In September, spring blossoms with the award-winning choreographer and dancer, Tupua Tigafua’s Shel We, an enchanting dance homage to the whimsical world of Shel Silverstein, followed by Jessica Wilson’s interactive project I See You Like This, where kids become art directors, transforming their parents’ faces into a living canvas. Plus Thank God You’re Here and Taskmaster star Anisa Nandaula dives headfirst into the chaos of her life in No Small Talk.
From October to November, there will be something to suit all ages: Australia’s favourite kids’ comedians, The Listies, present their one-hour explosion of slapstick, songs, cardboard chaos and ridiculous gags in This Show is a Joke!, 100 Women 100 Stories brings together six award-winning female composers in a moving choral work featuring the words of women from across Australia, and Waverley’s inaugural Bondi Writers’ Festival brings authors, subject matter experts and storytellers
together for a celebration of books, ideas and community.
Throughout the year, audiences can also experience film screenings of the West End’s hottest stage shows, free lunchtime concerts in the High Tide Room, lively and thought-provoking public conversations presented by Waverley Council’s Talks & Ideas program, vibrant artist talks in the Art Gallery, and the 25th anniversary of the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award.
The full 2026 Artistic Program and tickets are available from 3 December, 6pm
BONDI PAVILION 2026 SEASON PROGRAM
SUMMER
Waverider
by Legs on the Wall and Bondi Pavilion in partnership with Sydney Festival
8 – 18 January 2026
GARU COURTYARD
FREE
Curtain Call
Lauren Brincat
Until 15th February 2026
ART GALLERY
FREE
TINA – A Tropical Love Story
Written, Directed and Co-produced by Ben Graetz
12 – 14 February
THEATRE
Bumpy
The Kanana Tour
27 February
THEATRE
Deep Sea Divers
Erth Visual & Physical Inc.
24 & 25 January
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
FREE
Good Together
Local Creatives Exhibition
21 February – 19 April
ART GALLERY
FREE
AUTUMN
In Common
By One Fell Swoop Circus
13 – 15 March
GARU COURTYARD
Amplify
Featuring The Buoys
8 March
COURTYARDS
FREE
AUTO-TUNE
re:group performance collective production
1 & 2 May
THEATRE
Life, Oh Life
Gillian Cosgriff
29 & 30 May
THEATRE
Broken Glass and Blue Bottles
A Photographic History of Surf Culture Curated by Luke Kennedy
25 April – 28 June
ART GALLERY
FREE
Splash Test Dummies
Dummies Corp
16 – 18 April OR 15-19 April
THEATRE
Emma Memma: In Concert
In Concert
3 May
COURTYARD
FREE
WINTER
Jazz at the Pav
12 June
THEATRE
Self Portrait
Annalouise Paul
3 & 4 June
THEATRE
The CAN Principle
Jonny Pasvolsky
5 & 6 June
THEATRE
Alex Lloyd: Echoes of Home Tour
13 June
THEATRE
Bondi Festival
3 –19 July
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Bondi WAVE
Youth Program
4 May – 7 August
Performance 1 August
THEATRE AND MUSIC STUDIOS
Waverley Art Prize
4 July – 23 August
ART GALLERY
FREE
An Uncertain Time
By Sarah Austin & Co
Produced by Performing Lines
11 – 15 August
THEATRE
ARTEXPRESS
29 August – 25 October
ART GALLERY
FREE
All In A Dance Makers Collective Production, Directed by Miranda Wheen
29 & 30 August
SEAGULL ROOM
SPRING
Shel We
Created by Tupua Tigafua
4 & 5 September
THEATRE
No Small Talk
Anisa Nandaula
25 September
THEATRE
I See You Like This
By Jessica Wilson with Matilda Woodroofe
27 – 30 September: Studio Appointments
2 October: Exhibition Opening
10 & 11 October: Make Your Own Photography Weekend
This Show is a Joke!
The Listies
8 – 10 October
THEATRE
100 Women 100 Stories
29 November: Performance
4 – 20 December: Gallery Exhibition
Bondi Writers’ Festival
20 – 22 November
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Film Screenings
Screenings held quarterly on Sunday afternoons THEATRE
Music Programs
Free Lunchtime Concerts – HIGH TIDE ROOM
Weekly Sunshine Singers Choir
Bondi WAVE
Beach Bash Concert
Carols by the Sea
Talks & Ideas
Delivered in partnership with Gertrude & Alice Bookstore
Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award
25th Anniversary
April – November
